Compared to that, what does Zhang have, really? She is just another human who had an interesting tour with an interesting people. Zhang is a good candidate for the Explorer Corps, but the Enterprise is another matter entirely.
Ok, so digging back in the thread, Captain Jeniffer Zhang has been on the panel since 2315.Q1, but the real deal is the discussion around the one after in 2317.Q1. Zhang was a contender for winning, but then:
Hush, we're saving the first mission of the Enterprise-C for her.
Peeps, peeps. We should Save Jen Zhang for the Enterprise-C. Give Jen a bit more time to season and let the first Enterprise-C Captain be a veteran of the Enterprise-B.
This is also the vote where Captain Larai Leaniss got picked for the
Tarrak. Some people advocated for trying to wait for her to go on the Enterprise, but she was too popular to get an EC captainship then and there. Both were age 39 at the time.
In 2318.Q1, Zhang lost captaincy of the
Opportunity to Captain Huth fop Makpol at 26 to 39 votes. Bluntly, Zhang's bonus is superior to Makpol, but Makpol was Tellaraite (diversity!) and largely voted for because people wanted to have Zhang captain the Enterprise. And here's the real kicker: In the 2319.Q1 vote, there was barely any mention at all of Zhang, and she got absolutely no votes.
None.
Ok, look, this somehow turned into a boring analysis post instead of an actual argument. Basically, Zhang's been passed over three times now, and of everyone who's actually on the Explorer Corps of Captains, she is the best choice for captaining the
Enterprise-C. (As for who's supposed to captain the
Ambassador, I don't think anyone's discussed yet.) If you want to somehow get Leaniss instead, you have to
first break up the dual launch of the Ambassadors, which personally I think would be
a big political misstep. If you think I'm wrong on that point, maybe it can happen. But the "just put Zhang on an EC ship" thing already failed in 2318 to the point where it wasn't even considered in 2319. And, gah, I literally have to got in a minute. It already was a big deal politically that Leaniss got captaincy of an EC ship, and, well, I liked Zhang's journey with the Honiani a lot, ok? *Shoves unfinished post through reply button*
